Team-BHP > What Car? > Sedans


Reply
  Search this Thread
15,914 views
Old 26th December 2005, 19:02   #1
BHPian
 
Insane Devil's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 987
Thanked: 173 Times
Skoda Laura or Hyundai Sonata Embera

Hi all,

well, finally as JAN'06 is coming, my time to buy a car is coming close

I have finally short listed down to
1. Hyundai Sonata Embera - Petrol-Manual-Leather = Rs.15,00,000/-(Onroad)
2. Skoda Laura - Diesel-DSG Automatic-Leather = Rs.19,00,000/- (On road Approx) (16.85 Ex Showroom)

Well, guyz, i jus spoke to my uncle, and he told me the Car is on the tour, and will be in hyd in a few days for Display.

now i gotta come down to one of these. which one should i go for. this is for my Dad, and his running is around 60-70km per day. please do help me out guyz! He thinks the maintainence of the Laura wud be very Expensive, while Hyundai is known to be the cheapest in its segment.

so plz gimme ur comments so that it can help me make my decission.

Last edited by Insane Devil : 26th December 2005 at 19:04.
Insane Devil is offline  
Old 26th December 2005, 19:27   #2
Senior - BHPian
 
DCEite's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: NCR
Posts: 3,408
Thanked: 2,458 Times

Out of the two i would suggest you go for the new Sonata as the running costs saved due to Diesel wont be significant since the price difference is so much. Sonata Embera is a performance and luxury oriented car which should suit your dad well.
DCEite is offline  
Old 26th December 2005, 19:36   #3
Senior - BHPian
 
Dippy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Mumbai, India
Posts: 7,554
Thanked: 2,438 Times

The Skoda is a great car and is sure to be more fuel efficient then the Hyundai. But Skoda parts are really expensive and heavy on the pocket so the money saved on fuel is pointless. The Hyundai on the other hand should be cheaper to maintain and parts should cost less too. And the 4 lakh price difference is not justified

I would say go for the Sonata
Dippy is offline  
Old 26th December 2005, 19:58   #4
v12
Distinguished - BHPian
 
v12's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 6,737
Thanked: 7,200 Times

The Sonata would be the obvious choice. Its cheaper and comes with the best After Sales Service. Not that the Laura isnt good. But 19 lakhs for a new-look Octavia is just too much. Anyways why dont u look at other cars like the Accord / Mondeo etc. Also would suggest you ask the dealers when Hyundai is gonna launch the CRDI Sonata.
v12 is offline  
Old 26th December 2005, 20:05   #5
Distinguished - BHPian
 
.anshuman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Good-Gaon
Posts: 7,763
Thanked: 11,063 Times

i find the sonata the better car of the two and i dont find laura worth the price it is sold for,even the honda accord is a great option.
.anshuman is offline  
Old 26th December 2005, 21:01   #6
Senior - BHPian
 
Godfather's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Bangalore / Atlanta
Posts: 1,387
Thanked: 70 Times

i would tell you to go in for the sonata embera. it looks good.. and even the name sounds better than laura..
Godfather is offline  
Old 26th December 2005, 21:06   #7
BHPian
 
airfoil's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 318
Thanked: 81 Times

Another vote for the Sonata Embera.

Why not consider the Accord if you're willing to spend 19 lacs on a Laura?
airfoil is offline  
Old 26th December 2005, 21:27   #8
Senior - BHPian
 
adya33's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Pune
Posts: 1,839
Thanked: 183 Times

Since you said its for your father & out of the two I would say go for Sonata
Skoda may have better FE but its maintainance cost will be high

any specific reason to sticking to these two cars?
adya33 is offline  
Old 26th December 2005, 22:28   #9
Senior - BHPian
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: N.A
Posts: 7,046
Thanked: 2,751 Times

Hmmmm.... queer choice of cars. It would be a more straightforward contest if you picked up 2 D-segment cars.

As things stand, the Sonata offers more space, power and better interiors. With a 4 lakh price differential (is that for real????) you cant even justify diesel economy in favour of the Skoda.

No contest.
Steeroid is offline  
Old 27th December 2005, 08:34   #10
BHPian
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 532
Thanked: 18 Times

GO for Hyundai Sonata Embera.
love the looks of the car...
zulfikar is offline  
Old 27th December 2005, 09:34   #11
Senior - BHPian
 
aadix's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: hyderabad
Posts: 1,597
Thanked: 14 Times

bhai,my vote would be for the skoda laura,
seen it in mahavir cars,it is huge! a little bit smaller to superb
plus the fact that it's gonna hold amazing resale price.

if not pick up an accord instead of the sonata,the car loks like an million bucks,it will suit you too!
but an strong no for the sonata.

or else why not wait for the civic?
aadix is offline  
Old 27th December 2005, 12:02   #12
BHPian
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Pune
Posts: 727
Thanked: 11 Times

My choice is the New Sonata.
4 lakh price difference for basically a new model Octavia (altho a great car) you also get all the goodies in a Sonata which also looks classier in its new 'avatar'
Abhay is offline  
Old 28th December 2005, 14:36   #13
BHPian
 
Insane Devil's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 987
Thanked: 173 Times

heya fellas! thanx a lotttie lot for all ur responses! and am happy to see most of u did vote for the Sonata as i am also more keen on it.

i would like to clarify some of your questions/doubts before more ppl give repilies...

1. I want a premium luxury car, something of the 15-19 lk range.
2. In this range the cars available are : Sonata, Accord, Camry, & Laura.
3. Accord and Camry are a no-no for me for the following reasons:
Accord: compared to the Sonata, it is around 1.5 lk costlier, while not
giving me anything extra but the "Honda" badging. The interior space is
also very less compared to the Sonata, about the Buttons on the steering
for the Stereo, well my dad prefers to keep the stereo off while driving!
(unlike me!) so that wont matter me if it aint there. also, the Sonata is
for more powerful - 20 bhp more!

Camry: well, jus doesnot justify its price, its actually more than 20lk
onroad here in Hyd, and it doesnt have anythign extra than what the
Accord and Sonata are giving. The cabin space is definately at par with
Sonata's but then, there is nothing in the car worth spending 4-5 lk
more than the Accord/Sonata.


4. The Laura is definately more equipped, but most of it is something which one can do without, or something which is not going to effect day to day CITY driving drastically... well the DSG Gearbox is sure a great boon in the city traffics. And with us, its like, the car is quiet mishandled from the outsides, as with the current traffic situation in india, if u are using a luxury car for daily commuting, its difficult to maintain it scratchless!, so yea, i think as i need this car for Daily commuting from home to office and some site visits, the LAURA will surely be lot more expensive in maintainence to me. + these extra features all add up to regular maintainence costs going up! and as is, Skoda's spareparts are really very expensive.

5. Dad was more keen on the Elantra CRDi, as he thinks spending anything more on a Car is jus waste when u cant maintain it all "shiny shiny" but i somehow am convincing him that he does need a bigger car. So yea, regular maintainence has to be low for us.

while i have cleared most of ur doubts about why the choice of only these 2 cars, i hope now u can give me more clearer replies .

Thanx a lot all, please do keep replying, i need all the info possible.

asta lavista!
Insane Devil is offline  
Old 28th December 2005, 14:36   #14
BHPian
 
Insane Devil's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 987
Thanked: 173 Times

Hey AADIX,

wazzup man, how u doing? long time meeting up.

Regarding the LAURA, and Accord, well, somehow i find the SONATA looking lot more "million buck" than the Accord due to its more refined and elegant (non sporty) looks.

Secondly, we will be keeping the car for 5 Years or 1 Lk km, whichever first, and its almost at the same time, Dad drives around 22-25k per year. so the question of ReSale value wont effect me much as by 5 years, i will have used the car real good. The Laura aint so big afterall, it is smaller than the Superb. while the Superb is a just 5 CM longer than the Sonata, and is 7 CM less wider than the Sonata. so here the Sonata surely will be more wider and longer than the Laura.

Why not wait for the Civic, well if its Petrol, its gotta be something of the Accord/Sonata range. Civic is not as big,loaded,fast,feature packed as the Sonata.

Last edited by Insane Devil : 28th December 2005 at 14:43.
Insane Devil is offline  
Old 30th December 2005, 15:45   #15
BHPian
 
Beeman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Treasure island
Posts: 335
Thanked: 2 Times

Well my suggestion to you is to buy the Hyundai Embera (i have bought one too) i personally feel it is better looking than the Accord in some extents too. The front has a sort of an audi look and the rear is that of a more sportier/modified version of an accord.
To boot it has two exhaust tips which are quite neat looking and chunky.
It rides on 16" fatory fitted alloys.........rather than accords 15"
tyre size is also a big 215 R60
The engine to me is the heart of this car , supposedly producing 166 bhp, it is quick and nimble and after a little bit of driving around feels quite comfortable and its not like driving a big ungainly car.
Also the interior space is quite large and the factory fittted stereo is quite brilliant too.
Beeman is offline  
Reply

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks